J.D. Walt: Self-interest and sowing

Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed; but if dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24

“The hardest thing to see about ourselves is our own self-interest. The greatest impediment to change, no matter how positive it might be, is our self-interest. The greatest threat to the Kingdom of God moving powerfully in our midst is not our opponents. It’s our self-interest. Self interest is a reality. It’s when we fail to acknowledge and be aware of it that it becomes a risk.

It’s why Jesus will later say whoever wants to be His disciple must deny their selves. He will say that whoever wants to save their life will lose it and whoever loses their life for His sake will keep it. The gospel goes for the jugular when it comes to self-interest. Here’s the good news. Jesus doesn’t ask us to lay our self interest aside as some kind of act of self abnegation.

No, He reveals to us a far greater interest to take its place—the all consuming, glorious, unparalleled interest of the Kingdom of God. Real faith is coming to the place of actually trusting that if we make Jesus’ interest our chief concern, he will make our interest his chief concern. Remember Matthew 6:33? Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.”

J.D. Walt in “What to Look for When You Don’t Understand What’s Going On” Seedbed Daily Text for 10 June 2016. J.D. is a dear brother whose writing ministers to me, especially when I am traveling. Subscribe to his blog if you want more good stuff.

I preached at Toongabbie Anglican Church, west of Sydney, today. The minister there, Raj Gupta, was one of my doctoral students back in 2013 at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. In response to my message, I pray that this church will set aside or exchange self-interest for something far greater: participation in God’s kingdom.

My avenue for communicating this today was the picture of sowing. Those who are distracted by earthly, self-interest will sow sparingly, and in so doing, reap sparingly (that is, experience minimal fruitfulness in God’s Kingdom work). Alternatively, those who sow their lives and resources generously to make known the gospel, will of course, reap generously.

What about you?

On my part, I have found that self-interest can be my own worst enemy to participating generously in God’s work. To combat it, I have transparent relationships with friends to hold me accountable. It’s why my wife and I live on a budget to put bumpers in our lives so that our lives exhibit “enjoyment and sharing” (cf. 1 Timothy 6:17-19) rather than “self-indulgence” (cf. Galatians 5:13-14). Without intentional effort, our self-interest will at the very least, limit our own fruitfulness.

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The local people showed us extraordinary kindness… Acts 28:2a

“Becoming hospitality entails that we consciously choose to embody love in the world as our Lord Jesus did. By exploring these five pathways we all have the opportunity to reflect on how we project hospitality into all of our realms of being, and most especially into that of our spiritual direction encounters. [1] By recognizing the seminal role of prayer in our life, we can approach it with passion and constancy regardless of the forms it may take. [2] Through placing radical trust in the God we walk with, we realize that we are never alone and that God is with us in a way that often goes beyond the immediacy of emotion or feeling. [3] Letting go of our images of God teaches us to discover the mystery of God in the present moment. [4] Choosing to forgive liberates us from the past and allows us to live and love more freely in the moment. [5] And, finally, by cultivating a generous heart, we are able to let go of our fears and move toward a life of unconditional love–the essence of what it means to become hospitality. Thus, by reflecting on each of these pathways, we have seen how hospitality provides a noble way of being in the world if we can only remember who we are.”

Leslie A. Hay in Hospitality: The Heart of Spiritual Direction (Harrisburg: Morehouse, 2006) 90.

Five reasons I explored “becoming hospitality” this morning.

[1] Wes Willmer, my mentor, blessed me by generously clearing his schedule to serve with me in South Korea and Australia. [2] Sung Wook Chung and Ho Chan Hwang cared for each and every need Wes and I had in South Korea, then Gary & Debbie Williams and Stephen & Kate Kerr bountifully followed suit in Gold Coast, Australia [3] Geoff Folland (one of my former students) extended selfless kindness to me by rearranging his schedule, picking me up at Sydney airport, and opening his heart and life with me over coffee yesterday. [4] Tom and Jaime Schell are not only sharing their spare room with me for three nights, they are touring me around Sydney (the Opera House and Harbour Bridge are pictured above) and introducing me to the friends God has brought into their lives. [5] And, frankly, I miss my wife (who happens to be a hospitable spiritual director). I can’t wait to see her on Monday. These five pathways reflect her life!

Want to exhibit “becoming hospitality”?

Hay is spot on with her suggestions on intentional steps we can take to grow in this area: Root our lives in prayer. Exhibit radical trust in God. Attune to how His Spirit may be at work in the present. Realize that forgiveness is key to all of living and loving (that one has taken me a while to figure out!). And, cultivate a generous heart.

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For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9

“The preacher’s task is to point to the cross and help the congregation to see it as an expression of the generosity of Jesus. He suffered so that we could be redeemed and reconciled to God. He denied himself in order to lavish us with grace. His body was broken so that we could be made whole. Isn’t generosity an excellent way to describe the grace that comes to us through Jesus? Preaching that inspires generosity will be preaching that points people to the cross.”

Matt O’Reilly in “Preaching to Inspire Generosity” blog post dated 13 January 2016. This article came on my radar in a regular email I receive from Generous Church. If you do not receive them, you might want to visit their website.

I flew from Brisbane to Sydney today and thought prayerfully about my preaching there this weekend. I read this article and it gave me some fresh inspiration. Pastors, join me in pointing people to the cross to help them see what God’s generosity is all about! Lord Jesus, thank you for the generous example you set for us. Help us imitate you by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us for the glory of God the Father. Amen.

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[Jesus] is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him. Colossians 1:17-19

“Jesus is Creator and Sustainer of the universe. He is gathering a kingdom of people unhindered by language or geography who will function as priests for the world. Jesus is worthy of all power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and praise.

Jesus is where we meet God’s generosity. Jesus oversees God’s project of redeeming the world. Christians who fully acknowledge the person and work of Jesus are more likely to be transformed by God’s abundant life and find lifelong motivation for generous living.”

Mark Vincent in A Christian View of Money: Celebrating God’s Generosity, third edition (Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 1997) 62.

The first thing I did was open the curtains of my conference hotel room, let the sun shine in my room, and rest in Jesus with a cup of coffee. Why? “Jesus is where we meet God’s generosity!”

From there, Wes and I got a break from teaching to tour the coast to Cape Byron, the eastern tip of mainland Australia, with Gary and Debbie Williams and Stephen and Kate Kerr. It was a gorgeous day. Check out my Facebook to see pictures.

Father in Heaven, thanks that you love us so much, that You revealed Yourself and your generous plan for redeeming the world to us through Jesus Christ. By your Holy Spirit, conform our lives to His so that through us others in this beautiful world you created and hold together may come to know You too. Amen.

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I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

“Christian fundraisers must themselves be on a journey of heart transformation, and they must clearly understand their vocation as ministry in this holistic sense. Our work requires persistence, consistency, and passion.”

R. Scott Rodin in “The Transformation of the Godly Steward: Promise, Problem and Process” in A Revolution in Generosity: Transforming Stewards to be Rich Toward God edited by Wesley K. Willmer (Chicago: Moody Press, 2008) 107.

Here in Australia (the ocean 100 meters from our hotel is pictured above), Wes Willmer and I have been blessed that our fellow ECFA Press author, R. Scott Rodin, has sowed truths like this in the lives of many people in recent years here, and fruit is abounding.

Many have testified to the work that God has done in their hearts through ECFA Press resources like The Sower, and they are approaching their vocations not as raising up gifts but as raising up givers to be rich toward God. Hallelujah!

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“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. Isaiah 55:8

“God’s way of transformation is different from the transactional money-raising mind-set that churches an other Christian organizations have imported from the business world…In order to fulfill our calling as disciples, we must shift from this transactional mind-set to a transformational model.

If we view giving as an instrument of transformation, we will support our givers through a consistent program of prayer and personal interaction, accepting the fact that it is the Holy Spirit, not our personality, that influences how they give…as we embrace the transformational model, the focus shifts from the gift and getting money to seeing God’s power work in individual lives.”

Wesley K. Willmer in A Revolution in Generosity: Transforming Stewards to be Rich Toward God (Chicago: Moody Press, 2008) 39-40.

It’s a privilege to teach in Australia with Wes Willmer. Since thanks to many people around the world who are praying for us on this two-week trip. We are experiencing your prayers!

Today Wes spoke on these two perspectives in one of our seminars. Through gracious facilitation he helped many understand and choose to embrace the transformational mind-set.

How has prayer and personal interaction with others shaped your life? What intentional activities could you do to help those around you grow as generous disciples of Jesus Christ?

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And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. 2 Corinthians 8:5

“God’s gifts call on us to make ourselves available to their Giver…Is favor transferred when we give ourselves to the Lord? It’s not. We’re simply living the way God created us to live. We can’t give anything back to God, not even ourselves, since we were never our own in the first place. We live and breathe and have our being in God. The most we can do is to make ourselves available for God to be used as instruments.

Notice that, in making ourselves available, we are not doing God any favors. We give ourselves for God’s use to benefit creation, not to benefit God. That’s what it means to be a “living” sacrifice, which the Apostle Paul urges Christians in Rome to become (Romans 12:1).

A sacrifice is normally dead, given in ancient religions to benefit gods by nourishing and sustaining them. But that would be a sacrifice that a negotiator God required. God the Giver requires a living sacrifice, ready to do God’s work in God’s world.”

Miroslav Volf in Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005) 47-48.

I’ve arrived in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, where the outback meets the ocean, though all I can see from my hotel room are palm trees and partly cloudy skies (as pictured above). This week Dr. Wes Willmer and I are speaking at the Christian Ministry Advancement Annual Conference on the theme: Faithful in God’s work in God’s world.

We are also celebrating the launch of the CMA Standards Council (the Australian counterpart to ECFA in the USA) and that Mr. Stephen Kerr, a Melbourne attorney and committed follower of Christ, has “made himself available” to serve as the founding executive director.

Making ourselves available to God may be our greatest act of generosity. Volf makes a great distinction that the gift of ourselves does not benefit God, but God’s creation. In essence, we become God’s gift to the world.

Let us resolve today to serve as living sacrifices who faithfully give ourselves and the resources in our stewardship to God to do His work in His world.

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I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:12-13

“If only living simply were actually simple…What should we do with this simple-living paradox, this challenge that for many of us today, living simply takes real work? Even when we attempt to living simply, we can end up with another experience entirely…While simple living is not so simple, it can lead to generosity in many forms: generous giving of time, generous giving of money, generous giving of love, and eventually, generous thanksgiving…

And yet, for those who have much, living simply can become a call to action responding to God’s good and unexpected gifts to us. As Paul indicates, it is a learning process, a sanctification process, even, of being made holy by the Spirit’s good work in us. Like Paul, as we focus our living out the gospel of Christ, we cannot expect that simple living is easy. Together, though, we might find that with God, simple living is faithful.”

Adam Copeland in “Not So Simple: Living in Christ” in Giving: Growing Joyful Stewards in Your Congregation, volume 18 (Richmond: ESC, 2016) 6-7.

Copeland nails the paradox of simple living. It’s hard but it’s the faithful path on which God transforms us to become his conduits of love, service, and generosity. What would it look like for you to simplify? To give away possessions that actually own you because of the time it takes you to take care of them? Take time today to think about this. It’s what I will be challenging my students to do in my teaching this summer, so that, like Paul, they can model simple living.

Today I preached at two churches in Seoul on “Managing God’s Resources Faithfully: Five Reminders for Stewards” from Luke 16:1-13. Email me if you’d like a copy of my sermon manuscript, and please pray for hearts to be receptive of the message God’s given me to share. Please also pray for safe travels for Dr. Wes Willmer and me from Seoul, South Korea to Sydney, Australia tonight and then connecting to Brisbane, Australia tomorrow. Thank you.

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I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. Philippians 4:10-11

“Living simply has more to do with the “why” rather than the “what”. One of the most famous lines from the documentary Affluenza goes something like this: “We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t know.”

Almost everything we buy says something, either to ourselves or to the world around us. And because we care about what people think about us, we are susceptible to this kind of marketing. So we clutter up our lives with stuff and activities that we are told will make us popular and admired.

The problem of course is that all of that stuff needs to be cared for and eventually, stored—which of course, is why the storage unit industry continues to grow. In a country that has the highest average square footage per house in the world, we still need more space to put stuff we don’t use. And that us the key to a simplified life: what we actually use and why? What activities do we engage in because we actually like doing them rather than because everyone else is doing them?

The way to measure simplicity in your life is not by counting your stuff or looking at your calendar but to ask what role these things and activities play in your life and, more important, if they add feelings of contentment or anxiety. Contentment in how you live is how the simple life is measured, not in the amount of stuff you have or how busy you are, but how you feel about how you are living.”

Lynn Miller in “Simple Living” in Giving: Growing Joyful Stewards in Your Congregation, volume 18 (Richmond: ESC, 2016) 10.

Miller hits the nail on the head. This summer I plan to help my students in various classes this summer (and readers of my daily meditations) to think about the “why” rather than the “what”. I want to do this so that our living models for others a different way to live, a Christian way to live: to consume without being overtaken by consumerism and to use things without being possessed by them, so that we are free to live, give, serve, and love as content conduits of God’s material and spiritual blessings.

Today at an International Missions Conference at Sarang Community Church (one of the largest churches in Korea), I will speak on “Sustainability and Missions” (reply to this email if you’d like a copy of my manuscript). The aim of my remarks is to deconstruct the false paradigm that “financial sustainability” is the driving force of missions, as the NT reveals that “faithful stewardship” is God’s design, His pattern, for sustaining and fueling mission.

What’s this have to do with simple living? The paradox is that God’s work goes forward not because wealthy people bankroll it. It moves forward when God’s people (whether rich, poor, or in between) live simply and participate richly with what they have: their gifts and goods to make known the gospel. The Korean Church, much like the early church in the days of the NT, has plenty of resources because millions or ordinary people are living openhanded lives and participating enthusiastically with the resources in their stewardship.

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If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:3

“Generosity and love are complementary gifts from God. 1 Corinthians 13:3 says, “If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing” (NRSV). Love cannot be forced or legislated, but must be provoked by a love of our neighbor. I like to say, “When we truly love our neighbor as ourselves, capitalism as we see it today won’t be possible, but Marxism won’t be necessary. What we are talking about is a movement of people loving their neighbor as themselves. Jesus was not afraid to reach out and touch the poor and marginalized. He invites us to tear down the walls that separate us from the suffering in the world today.”

Shane Claiborne in “Generosity in Community” in Giving: Growing Joyful Stewards in Your Congregation, volume 18 (Richmond: ESC, 2016) 14-15.

One thing I love about Korea is how sharing is a deep cultural value. Unlike in America where the cultural norm is to focus on looking out for ourselves, on this my eighth trip, I am yet again blown away by Korean hospitality: a ride from the airport is set up for me, a room is provided for me, food is set before me in colorful and vast portions, and perhaps the biggest gesture is the love and respect extended to me as minister of the gospel. Why share this?

The Korean Church has challenges like the church in other countries, but more than any place I have ever been, it feels like a “movement of people loving their neighbors as themselves” as Claiborne notes. Today Dr. Wes Willmer (my mentor, friend, and fellow author) will spend quality time with Dr. Ho Chan Hwang of CCFK (Christian Council for Financial Transparency, Korea – the Korean counterpart to ECFA in the USA). Pray that we can love, serve, and encourage him well on our visit.

Ask yourself what it would look like to catalyze such a movement yourself. How would you handle possessions differently if your focus was to love your neighbor as yourself? Would you store up treasures on earth or deploy them to those in need around you? How would it change the use of “your” time (as if you possess it in the first place)? Living Christianly moves beyond ideologies like capitalism and socialism. It’s living life in the Kingdom here and now!

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